When Is a Landlord Liable for Injury on Rental Property?

Posted on: November 29, 2017 by Castelblanco Law Group, APLC

What to Do If You’re Injured in a Rental Home

More people than ever are renting their homes rather than buying. However, renters have an equal expectation of safety in their home, regardless of who owns the property. So, when a tenant is injured on rental property due to landlord negligence, they may choose to take action. In order to hold a landlord responsible for premises liability, you must be able to prove all of the following:

Your injury is genuine.

The landlord had a duty to maintain the portion of property that caused your injury.

The landlord failed to make a reasonable effort to meet that duty.

The cost of fixing the problem or providing adequate warning would not have been unreasonable expensive.

Your injury was the probable outcome of the landlords failure to address the issue.

As an example, if you broke an arm falling off your stairs due to a broken or missing handrail, you may be able to file a claim against the land owner if you can show that:

You really were hurt, which is easily proven with hospital documentation.

It was your landlords duty to fix the handrail.

You landlord failed to make an effort to fix the problem in a reasonable amount of time.

The repair would not have been overly expensive or difficult.

Your injury was a likely outcome of your landlords negligence.

You may be able to file a claim against your landlord to cover your costs related to the injury, such as medical expenses, lost wages from being unable to work, pain and suffering, disability, etc. You may also be able to file a claim for any damage to personal property due to landlord negligence.